Agnar Renolen

Posted 17 September 2012 - 02:43 PM

Charles Syrett

Posted 17 September 2012 - 02:46 PM

Charles Syrett

Ultimate Contributor

Validated Member

540 posts

Canada

You may consider yourself an amateur, but your work (both the relief and the topo map) looks far more professional than most of the stuff put out by those who do call themselves professional nowadays. You have that essential element: love of making maps. Many would consider the work that you put into this as being "tedious", but it's the careful attention to detail that gives it the shine of high quality work.

I'm curious about your method for the pencil shading. What material are you using? Is there a background tint, and if so how did you create it? How about highlights? I can't tell from the scan whether or not you've drawn highlights for the sunny sides of the relief.

Pre-digitally, I used to do this kind of work on drafting film. I would start with a background tint using airbrush, and then add details using pencil (shading) and eraser (highlights). I'd sharpen the eraser for fine details. Later, I switched to airbrush for all the details, using gouache paints. Since the arrival of DEMs and software, the demand for this kind of work has all but disappeared; with the exception of occasional hand-rendered relief images on National Geographic maps, it's hardly ever done any more.

Posted 18 September 2012 - 10:28 AM

Steve Crow

Posted 18 September 2012 - 12:39 PM

Steve Crow

Newbie

Validated Member

9 posts

Location:North London

United Kingdom

Thank you for your encouraging words Charles.

I'm curious about your method for the pencil shading. What material are you using? Is there a background tint, and if so how did you create it? How about highlights? I can't tell from the scan whether or not you've drawn highlights for the sunny sides of the relief.

Basically, I took all my advice regarding method from Imhof's "Cartographic Relief Presentation"

I used the smoothest, whitest paper I could find. It is quite thick, almost card (200gsm).

There is no background tint.

I used carefully sharpened pencils from grade 9H to 2B. Flat, even areas were shaded with 2H and highlights were built up using harder, lighter grades, shadows with softer. The brightest highlights are untouched white paper.

While drawing, I used clear film to protect the image from smudging, except for the small area where I was working.

The most difficult thing was keeping all the pencils sharp and everything clean. If the pencil point is not kept in the right profile it "scratches" the paper making it impossible to maintain a flat, even tone.

I found the whole experience rewarding and the process of drawing itself very relaxing. I'm going to use a Wacom on my next project but intend to go back to the pencil in the future.

Charles Syrett

Posted 18 September 2012 - 02:50 PM

Charles Syrett

Ultimate Contributor

Validated Member

540 posts

Canada

Thanks for the description, Steve. I have fond memories of pencil work, as well as airbrush. Working with DEMs can also be very enjoyable in a different way: How to use digital data to achieve the kinds of effects that are done very simply with pencil and paint! Including, of course, using a Wacom to edit relief imagery produced from the DEM.